Consumer product compositions often contain benefit agents, such as conditioning agents, to provide enhancements to surfaces treated with the consumer product composition such as improved hand feel benefits (e.g. soft, silky feel), softness benefits, fabric protection benefits, and the like. Such benefits are desired by consumers of fabric care products, such as laundry detergents or fabric softeners.
Such consumer product compositions, such as fabric softeners, are typically provided in the form of aqueous liquid products. Since many desirable conditioning agents are hydrophobic in nature, it can be a challenge to create a stable aqueous liquid formulation containing hydrophobic conditioning agents. As a result, such conditioning agents are typically incorporated in aqueous liquid compositions in the form of emulsions or other systems comprising emulsion droplets/particles having relatively small particle size benefits agents, typically smaller than 1 μm. One drawback of having small particle size conditioning agents is that it can be difficult to deposit and retain small particle size benefit agents on the treated surface, especially if the surfaces are being treated in the context of an aqueous treatment liquor such as a detergent treatment liquor in a laundry washing machine. As a result, the small particle size conditioning agents can be washed down the drain and therefore wasted, as opposed to being deposited and retained on surfaces to enhance the surface.
In order to address such drawbacks, attempts have been made to provide delivery systems, such as encapsulation systems, for the hydrophobic conditioning agents in order to enhance their deposition and retention on surfaces while remaining stable in an aqueous liquid product. These delivery systems, however, can limit the effectiveness of the conditioning agents or lead to other issues.
With respect to the use of relatively large particle size conditioning agents in dissolvable solid structures, such consumer product compositions have the potential to adhere or smear against the treated fibrous surface before the solid structure fully dissolves. This can lead the consumer product composition to cause undesired residue on, or staining of, the treated surface, such as staining of fabrics treated with the consumer product composition under stress conditions (e.g. high loading of laundry in a gentle washing cycle).
It is therefore desired to provide a consumer product composition that contains relatively large particle size conditioning agents without the need for liquid delivery systems that can interfere with the effectiveness of the conditioning agent being deposited on the treated surfaces and without causing undesired residue on, or staining of, the treated surfaces.